


War Stories

by Cruadal



Series: Snapshots [66]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe, Angst, Deviates From Canon, Drama, Gen, Mention of Death, Modern Era, Original Character(s), Post-Canon, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-11-30 03:21:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11454915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cruadal/pseuds/Cruadal
Summary: This was written by my friend Ray, after she and I had a fun conversation regarding some of Kai's issues. Got her permission to upload this, and it's officially considered canon for this series. Timewise, it takes place before 'Eli and the Not So Great Idea'.I really am going to have to put these in some semblance of order someday.Also! I'm going to be moving in less than a week, so any further chapters I might actually get done will be delayed until the internet's back up or I find a library.





	War Stories

**Author's Note:**

> This was written by my friend Ray, after she and I had a fun conversation regarding some of Kai's issues. Got her permission to upload this, and it's officially considered canon for this series. Timewise, it takes place before 'Eli and the Not So Great Idea'. 
> 
> I really am going to have to put these in some semblance of order someday. 
> 
>  
> 
> Also! I'm going to be moving in less than a week, so any further chapters I might actually get done will be delayed until the internet's back up or I find a library.

** Snapshot #66 **

Ages: Kai - 21, Eli - 20, Ray - ? 

  


  


Time seemed to freeze. Two pairs of eyes stared back at him, shocked into silence. After a few awkward moments, the teacher sighed.

“Eli,” she said quietly, eyes still focused on Kai, “your mother’s calling. It’s time for you to go home.”

His gaze darted toward her, brows wrinkled in confusion. “But I didn’t hear-”

“ _Now_ , Eli.”

That was all the incentive he needed. Though he looked stung, Eli nodded and turned to leave, stopping only for one last glance between the other two before closing the door behind him. Ray would handle it, somehow.

Kai had watched him leave, his hands curled into fists. He stared at the door for a second after the lock clicked, as if waiting to be sure that Eli was far enough away, before whirling back to face Ray, demanding, “What was _that_ abo-”

His breath caught in his throat.

In Ray’s hand, Darkness was gathering. Knowing he would recognize it, she said nothing as she pulled the shadows into her hands. Judging from the look on her face, it took more concentration than she was used to.

“You should remember who you’re talking to,” she said finally, brown eyes flicking up to meet his.

“How are you doing that?” Kai demanded. “I thought none of you could... The Darkness is dangerous. Moreso for you than me.”

Her eyes seemed to darken, as if the ball of power in her hand was sucking the light from them. “I know.”

“Then why would you-”

“I was sixteen when I became a Refugee of Earth,” Ray interrupted, clearly having decided where the course of this conversation was going to go. “I was just a kid on summer vacation, and the Keyblade was something from a story. Do you remember what changed that? I know Eli’s told you.”

The answer was obvious, but Kai remained stubbornly silent. Her eyes narrowed.

“We learned it was more than just a story when we _lost our world to Darkness_.” Ray clenched her hand into a fist, extinguishing the shadows. The room instantly felt a little brighter. “We lost _everything_ that day. Our home, our friends, our _families_ , all gone. We were scattered throughout the worlds with no real way of defending ourselves against the Heartless.” She stood. “We were lucky to have survived at all.”

Was there a point to this?

“You’re not the only ones whose world fell to Darkness.”

“Oh, I know,” she replied, almost sounding amiable again. He didn’t trust that tone. “Trust me, I know. And Eli told you about Awiergan, right? That was kind of a big deal, of course he would have told you. Amy’s personal Darkness tried to make herself hard to ignore.”

...Oh. He refused to look at Ray as she found her glass and took a sip of water, deliberately drawing the moment out.

“But you know,” she said conversationally, “we didn’t tell Eli everything that happened.” His heart most certainly did not start racing when she said that, and Ray had the dignity to pretend she didn’t notice his surprise. He’d be thankful if he wasn’t so annoyed - or startled, but he wouldn’t admit to that. “Some of what happened isn’t… exactly what you’d want to tell the next generation. History is written by the victors, and all that.”

She actually smiled at him, and there was none of her usual warmth in it. As far as he’d known, the Refugees had fought in the war, but the majority of them just treated it as fun and games, or stayed out of the worst of it. Somehow it hadn’t occurred to him that these lighthearted goofs could have taken a darker role in the war - pun be damned. Sure, some of them had scary power, but they clearly had different priorities than to use it… right?

“Did you know that one of us gave Xemnas her Heart in a bid to protect us?” Ray continued, eyes distant as she recalled the memory. “I’m sure you know some of us tried to make friends with the Organization, hoping we could change something for the better. Didn’t work, of course. Not long after that, they poisoned one of my best friends’ Hearts with Darkness. Targeted her specifically… and I’m still not entirely sure why.”

He’d heard stories about how ruthless the Organization had been. This shouldn’t be surprising.

“I didn’t know for a while how bad it was, but it was suffocating her, killing her slowly over time. And then,” she said, with a quiet (and creepy, Kai thought) chuckle, “they poisoned a whole world. But that’s par for the course, no big deal. We lost that world, even though we tried hard to fight for it. Although…” Her voice trailed off for a moment, and she tapped her cheek thoughtfully. “There was that one kid who brought up nukes. _That_ was something else. He brought us and the Organization together.”

Kai felt a chill go down his spine. 

“They asked me to work with them so they could remove the threat. I agreed.” She let that hang in the air for a moment, to give it time to sink in, and met his eyes. “The act was going to be done by someone else. He failed, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’d planned a murder.”

Murder. The word echoed in his mind, and with it, he could almost hear the sound of someone laughing... 

No. _No_ , Kai thought in horror, the Refugees weren’t… That would have made them like...

Ray didn’t give him time to voice his thoughts. She continued, “Oh, and remember that friend whose Heart was poisoned with Darkness? Someone else decided that _she_ needed to be taken out of the picture. He made a bet with me. Maybe he heard that I’d agreed to work with them before, I dunno. The stakes were my life against hers. He used,” she waved her hand through the air, “some illusion to make her fight me, and she was already in bad shape. He didn’t relent until he was convinced that she’d died. In return, I was granted certain protections, if I continued to work with them.” Pausing, she looked down to watch the water swirl in her glass with carefully neutral eyes. “About a month later, I helped destroy him.”

“So,” Kai said slowly, “you’re saying you’re a murderer, and you don’t want Eli to know?”

She had the gall to _laugh_. “No! No, I never killed anyone, when it comes down to it. Not even a Nobody. No, that’s not what I’m saying, Kai.” 

“Then -”

“What I’m saying is that you don’t know the full story. You’ll never know someone’s full story unless they tell you themselves.” She walked closer, leveling with him until she could look him directly in the eyes, all traces of the mirth from before gone in an instant. “So who are you to judge who does and does not understand what it’s like to struggle with Darkness?”

She had him there. Kai looked away, angry and a little humiliated.

“Okay, fine,” he said through clenched teeth. “I messed up. I should’ve known better. Is that what you want me to say?”

Ray pulled back, one hand sitting casually on her hip as if nothing was different. “No, Kai. You may be one of very few with the power of Darkness at your beck and call, but you are far from the only one who struggles with it. We all have Darkness inside of us. Standing alone against it is dangerous for anyone, moreso for a Keyblade wielder, with the power you hold. What I want is for you to remember that, and remember what I just told you. Because… if I hadn’t asked for help back then, I would not have survived.”

Well. He didn’t know what to say to that, so he went with nothing.

“If you understand that, you can go,” she said, running a hand through her hair. Nodding woodenly, he turned for the door. “And Kai?”

He paused, stubbornly refusing to look back.

“Please don’t tell Eli any of what I told you,” she asked, voice quiet. “I don’t think his mother would appreciate it.”

He left without a word. There was a lot for him to think about.

Asking how she controlled the Darkness could come later, but with those stories, he had an idea.


End file.
